Artefact 1 : An Image of Students in the Shubenacadie Residential School

Citation :

Canada, L. and A. (2024a, December 6). Collection search - shubenacadie residential school. Library and Archives Canada. https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=FonAndCol&idNumber=5159042&ecopy=e011308645-v8

Label : 

The image above shows students in the Shubenacadie Residential school in Nova Scotia, Canada. This school was one of many residential schools in Canada. It was created to forcefully assimilate Indigenous kids into the dominant European culture. The Mi'kmaq children that attended the Shubenacadie Residential School shared that speaking their own language would result in violent physical punishment (Knockwood, n.d.). The only language they were allowed to speak was English but this was tough because they didn’t know english. Additionally, they weren’t allowed to tell their families about the abuse they were facing (Knockwood, n.d.). One of the kids attempted to write a letter about the punishments they face, he got caught, and as a result, he couldn’t write to his family for a certain amount of time (Knockwood, n.d.). The kids that attended this school carried the trauma with them for years. Most of them spent their whole lives living in fear and terror, leading them into isolating themselves (Knockwood, n.d.). This lifelong trauma was a cause of many forms of physical and emotional abuse. 

Bibliography : 

Knockwood, I. (n.d.). Out of the depths, 4th edition. Google Books. https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ZwB0EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT9&dq=shubenacadie%2Bresidential%2Bschool&ots=cDl1tvQzL_&sig=S_LjRSPxqi-KPqZHTTjAqlHJtgo#v=onepage&q=shubenacadie%20residential%20school&f=false